Gwen Temple (Epiphany)
THEME: Gwendolyn "Gwen" Temple is a character in Epiphany. Described as the visionary behind an up and coming metropolis, Gwen is a woman who radiates beauty, power, experience, and authority. Building up her own city has given Gwen the motivation to finally settle down in one spot, after ten years of traveling the world as an anthropologist. Her work as an anthropologist ended after a camp she was staying with in Uganda was raided by an extremist group. She survived the massacre, but was traumatized by what she witnessed. She returned to US soil and took on desk work as a politician. On a solo mission to recruit more volunteers to help build her own personal empire along the Tennessee River, Gwen encounters a single survivor: Declan Radke, who warns her of a tyrant with an empire of his own, one that may pose a threat to her proposal. Gwen was bitten by an infected, but her body fought off the symptoms and she did not turn. She has an immunity to The Plague, and the people of New Venice treat her like a savior because of this, although it was revealed that she is also a carrier. Through any exchange of bodily fluids, the virus will transfer from her body and infect others. Personality Described as icy, arrogant, and incredibly straightforward, Gwen is a success story who blossomed from a broken home. A college graduate with over three hundred credits, she is a person who screams determination and victory in everything she does. However, she is so focused on bettering her own self-esteem and the image she projects to others, that she has often done the right things for the wrong reasons: like organizing charity work during her days as a political adviser in order to gain good publicity for her client. It is Gwen's way or the highway, for she is an egg that is especially tough to crack. Gwen's wanderlust and inability to feel comfortable in a place for far too long can be seen as a weakness; Gwen desires to travel and see more than what she has outside her front door, and becomes bored incredibly easy. Her lack of a husband or children at her age has shot down her confidence in love in general, one of her exposable weaknesses. She has a fear of being alone, of not being a mother, and missing out on personal experiences like these that define what she sees as part of a meaningful life. Now conscious of her prior mistakes, Gwen attempts to build a bigger life for others, vicariously living through the experiences of the people she leads, striving for something bigger, better and more impactful. History Pre-series Gwen was born in New Jersey, but for the first eighteen years of her life, she lived in various countries: Greece, Japan, France, Bolivia, Romania, and the Philippines. Her father was an ambassador, and so, her life required a lot of moving around. After graduating high school, Gwen attended college for a business degree. She transferred around quite a bit, bored of being in the same place for too long. Having moved around her whole life, this was, in a warped sense, normal for her. Unsatisfied, Gwen returned to school and earned a degree in anthropology. She traveled the world for ten years without much of a mission, other than having a passion for people. Her last trip was to Uganda, where an extremist group slaughtered many people in the camp she was staying at. Gwen survived the horrific experience, but she was forever haunted by what she witnessed there. Gwen returned to U.S. soil and took a few desk jobs for the government, before finally settling in as an aide to the governor of Kentucky. The world fell apart shortly after she finally started to feel comfortable, and she wandered on her own to Paducah, where she decided to settle in. Gathering with a team of other politicians from the Paducah area, Gwen and this team decided to build up a community even under these harsh circumstances. Gwen decided to recruit people for a project she dubbed "New Venice"; a flooded city that functioned in the sky, to make sure that the infected below are not a threat. All of the people she met along the coast were not interested, but she didn't meet many. Two weeks before her encounter with Declan in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, Gwen was bitten by an infected. She wandered for miles, feeling the initial symptoms of vomiting, but never turned. Others looked to her as a Messiah figure for her immunity, making it easy for her to recruit people to her cause. Book One: Revelation Gwen was wandering through the abandoned streets of Grand Rivers, Kentucky, when she met a stranger. He introduced himself as Declan Radke. Gwen told him of her plans for New Venice, and though he seemed interested, he wanted to get something off of his chest before proceeding with this conversation: he confessed to being "kind of" a murderer. Gwen's quick reaction was to draw her gun and aim it square at his chest. She wasn't going to take any chances with a murderer, and demanded he explain himself. This is what he wanted to do in the first place: He wanted a chance to admit his wrongdoings, to fix his past, and move on from it and do something good with his life. Gwen sympathized with this, and the two started to head toward New Venice. They discussed the details of infection, with Gwen revealing her immunity. Declan suggested that she was special, Gwen shook off the notion and suggested that she isn't the only one with an immunity. Upon bringing Declan to New Venice, Gwen faced scrutiny from her fellow council members for only recruiting one man. Bryce Cunningham, in particular, seemed miffed. However, when other members of the council started to attack Gwen and suggest that her shadow usurped the council's as a whole, Bryce backed her up in saying that the council needed to make more of an effort around the community. Gwen took Declan to his apartment where he'd be staying, and the two engaged in small-talk about his past. When Declan suggested they talk over coffee, Gwen attempted to play coy. That was when they were interrupted by a construction worker named Jarod falling from a scaffolding and hitting his head. Gwen performed CPR on him, and she and Declan began carrying him to safety. He began convulsing, and when it became apparent that he was suddenly infected, he attacked Gwen. She kicked him off the side of the platform, falling stories below to his death. She and Declan assumed the worst; that Gwen was a carrier of the virus because of her immunity, and that upon giving Jarod CPR, she infected him. Gwen turned herself into the police station and slept in a cell that night, effectively quarantining herself. Declan accompanied her there, and was given permission to use the spare key under the carpet outside her door to go into her apartment and fill a coffee mug with MacCutcheon whisky. When Declan returned, he brought Bryce along with him. As they discussed what to do about Gwen's current state, Gwen sipped on the whisky. By the end of the conversation, she acknowledged how exhausted she was and asked Bryce to return in the morning to make a formal decision. She seemed concerned about the well-being of Jarod Knapchuck's daughter and son. Bryce left and Declan, noticing that Gwen was getting drunk very fast, asked her to give the travel mug back to him but she refused. She asked Declan to stay with her overnight and started rambling about how she could relate to him. She made reference to a possible previous death she was responsible for, piquing Declan's interest. Killed Victims *Jarod Knapchuck *Numerous counts of infected Appearances Theme Trivia *Gwen is loosely based on Gwen Hayes, a major character from the author's now-defunct story Eden Rising. *Gwen appears as a default racer in UFSW Kart 2: Dual Rivals. Her default partner is Daniel Brown from Endangered, with their moniker being "head-sprung leadership". Category:Epiphany Category:Epiphany Characters Category:Characters Category:Remixed Eden Rising Characters Category:Protagonists